


Special Delivery

by chofi



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, FFXValentines Exchange 2018, Multi, Valentine's Day, no war no prophecy no problem
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-16 12:03:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13635918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chofi/pseuds/chofi
Summary: Exchanging chocolates and letters on Valentine's Day becomes increasingly serious business.





	1. Giri Choco

**Author's Note:**

  * For [memegitek](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=memegitek), [lionheart (cruel_oath)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cruel_oath/gifts).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Giri choco (義理チョコ, literally, "obligation chocolate") is chocolate given by women to men on Valentine's Day in Japan. It is a relatively inexpensive type of chocolate women give to male co-workers, casual acquaintances, and others to whom they have no romantic attachment."       [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giri_choco)

Prompto wasn't expecting much from this Valentine's Day. The days when classmates would pass around valentines with candy or pencils or something were long over (last year). This year, he's overheard his classmates whispering about boyfriends and girlfriends and fighting over who was going to marry Prince Noctis (no clear winner for that yet). 

Based on what he'd seen on TV, those were signs that giving and getting valentines were going to start being really serious. Holding hands and kissing serious. No one was going to hold hands and kiss _Prompto_ (not while he was...), so he'd prepared himself for an empty desk and a shoe cubby that only held his school shoes. That was how it was on any other day, anyway.

As Prompto changed into his school shoes, he _might_ have looked around inside the cubby just a bit before putting his sneakers in. If someone _had_ left something, like a letter, then it'd be a shame if his sneakers got it all messed up...

Nothing, just as he'd expected. The thump his sneakers made as he put them in the cubby was louder than usual.

At recess, a few kids left the room carrying pink and red boxes as soon as they'd finished eating lunch. Two more, very red faced, handed each other bags with little hearts on them to the hoots of some of the others in the class. Prompto stayed at his desk (which had been empty when he got to his classroom) and concentrated on finishing his soup. His eyes stung a little less if he looked down.

Once classes and clean up were over, Prompto turned his thoughts to running home. Maybe today would be the day that he would be able to get to the convenience store by his house without a stitch in his side. He shoved his feet inside his sneakers and tossed his school shoes inside his cubby.

A soft crunch.

Prompto's eyes widened. He reached into the cubby. Hands shaking, he pulled out a white envelope (now with a gray scuff mark and some wrinkles) with little star stickers all over it. "For Prompto," it read in dark blue ink. Prompto brushed away the scuff marks as best as he could (not easy, when his hands were shaking so much) and then gently put the envelope inside his math textbook, right on the page of his homework assignment. He put his school shoes back into the cubby, gently this time.

He ran out the door, yelling out a quick "See you tomorrow!" to the kids still changing their shoes. His math book was in his arms as he ran; it made him feel better knowing exactly where it--and the envelope with star stickers--was.

* * *

Prompto still got a stitch in his side before he made it to the convenience store. Maybe tomorrow, then. He waved at Ms. Nasica at the register and stopped at the bucket of fresh flowers she'd put out to sell today. There were only white carnations left. Prompto put his math book into his bookbag with a pat and reached for his camera. He made sure the flowers were in focus and took a picture. 

Ms. Nasica moved into range of the view finder. She smiled. "Get anything from your sweetheart today, Prompto?"

Prompto's face grew warmer. He put down his camera and stuffed it into his pocket. He muttered a quick, "No, I didn't. Sorry." He backed away and hurried to the fresh food section. Time to pick out dinner: Duscae Delight salad (Wednesday's special: half off) and a banana for dessert.

Ms. Nasica apologized when he went to the register with his food. "I didn't want to be mean, Prompto." She rang up his food and Prompto paid for it without response. "You're a sweet boy. You'll have better luck next year." She plucked a piece of chocolate wrapped in red foil from the display by the register and put it into the bag with the rest of his food. "A little present for one of my favorite regulars."

Prompto mumbled a thank you and headed for home.

The pain from his stitch and the awkwardness of talking with Ms. Nasica were (mostly) forgotten when he saw he had a guest. Prompto smiled at the small white dog waiting at his front door.

"Chibi!" Chibi--her name was actually Pryna but he'd always call her Chibi--answered with a bark. 

Prompto squatted down and gave her pat on the head. Pryna responded by licking his hand until he started laughing. She walked over to the mailbox and set her front paws at its base. It was why she'd come to visit, after all.

Prompto opened the mailbox and fished out what he was looking for (the stuff for his parents could wait, at least until after dinner): an envelope sealed with red wax and "Master Prompto Argentum" written on the front in handwriting he'd never have even if he practiced for a million years.

Letting himself in, Prompto said a perfunctory "I'm home". No answer, as usual. He waited for Pryna to get inside before closing the door. She padded along behind Prompto as he put dinner in the fridge and then went to his bedroom.

Pryna went in first, and sat down by Prompto's desk chair. Prompto placed his camera and his bookbag on his desk and got out his math book. The letter from his shoe cubby had lost one of its star stickers, but it looked a lot less wrinkled. Prompto sat down at his desk and turned, bending down to show Pryna the letter. "What do you think, Chibi? Should I open Luna's first, or this one?"

Pryna got up and walked towards Prompto. She nosed the letter, letting out a small sniff.

Prompto gave Pryna another pat and turned around to open the envelope. The handwriting in the letter was the same on as the envelope: unfamiliar, kind of messy, and in the same dark blue ink. The paper was lined and had the same star stickers as the envelope. It had no scent, not like Luna's letters. Prompto smoothed out the sheet and read. 

_Dear Prompto,_

_You're working hard to improve yourself. I hope you keep doing your best. Don't give up._

That was it. No signature. It was _nice_ , Prompto thought, to have some more encouragement, even if it was kind of blunt. It would be _nicer_ to know who'd sent it. He set it aside.

He broke the seal on Luna's letter, gave the sheets a sniff, and started to read.

_Dear Prompto,_

_I hope this letter finds you well. I myself am fine, as are Umbra and Ravus. Pryna, I am sure, has greeted you warmly. Let me add to her feelings of good will._

_Permit me to answer the question you asked in your last letter. In Tenebrae, Valentine's Day is a holiday for lovers. I believe that there is more of a focus on the varied types of love in Lucis, isn't there? It's wonderful to have a day to celebrate love, in all the forms that it takes. It is in that spirit that I wish you a Happy Valentine's Day, with the love of one friend to another._

_Faithfully,  
Lunafreya_

Prompto gave the letter another sniff, placed it inside its envelope, and put the envelope inside the box in his desk he'd gotten especially for Luna's letters. He grabbed the star sticker envelope and put it in there, too.

He pursed his lips, fished out some nice writing paper (also only for Luna's letters), and started with his response.

_Dear Luna,_

_I got your letter today. I hope you're doing well. Guess what? I got another letter at school today..._


	2. Tomo-Choco

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Tomo Choco (友チョコ) Tomo choco comes from the Japanese word _tomo_ that means "friend" and as the name says, it is a chocolate given by women usually to their female friends as a sign of appreciation and gratitude. As a sign of genuine friendship, the 'Friend Chocolate' can also be given to your male friends, so they won’t feel left out." [Japan Info](https://jpninfo.com/173756)

Luna’s latest page was covered in puffy flower stickers. In the center, flanked by moogles holding giant hearts, was a photo of her in one of the gardens of Fenestala. Unfairly, impossibly beautiful. She was holding a small box of chocolates. The bottom of the page had a note:

_Dearest Noctis,_

_I hope this finds you well. I regret that Umbra could only carry this small tribute to our friendship along with our book. Forgive me for being discourteously early, but my duties will keep me busy for most of the week. I ask you to share with Prompto._

_I hope my travels will bring us together soon._

_With my affections,_

_Luna_

Once the heat in his face had died down, Noctis set the notebook and the box of chocolates that Luna had sent along with it down on the dining room table.

Noctis knelt down to get close to the black dog lying down under the table. The dog perked up into attention, but remained lying down. Noctis gave him a few scritches. “Hey, Umbra, think you could stick around until I come back? It won’t be a long time.” At least, that was the plan.

Umbra settled down again, yawned, and got ready to take a nap.

“Thanks for the confidence.”

* * *

Alone in the elevator, Noctis took a breath to calm himself. Then another. Slow, steady breaths like Gladio had taught him to do. IN-two-three-four, HOLD-two-three-four, OUT-two-three-four. HOLD-two-three-four.

He adjusted his ball cap, cramming it further down his head. IN-two-three-four, HOLD-two-three-four, OUT-two-three-four. HOLD-two-three-four.

The bell chimed for the eighth floor. The doors slid open. Noctis stepped out, entering the Valentine’s Day boutique.

Shopping for Luna was easy. Some Tenebraen patissier who’d moved to Insomnia put out a limited edition box of cookies every year and had a stall in this department store’s Valentine’s Day boutique. Noct had been buying a box for Luna every year since he’d started getting an allowance.

Noct could’ve walked to the cookie stall blindfolded; he pretty much did, since he was hunched over and staring down at the floor. Like every year, he asked for a box, swiped his card, and waited about twenty seconds for the cashier to expertly wrap the box and put it in a bag. Like every year, he fought not to warp back to the elevator now that he was done.

Because this year, he wasn’t done.

This year, he was also buying something for Prompto.

It should have been as easy as Luna. This was just another box of stuff for a friend! He’d been buying friend stuff for Luna for years! This was just another box! A different box, of course, but still. No pressure.

Because this was just for a friend.

Along the far wall, stalls were handing out samples. Noctis worked his way down the stalls, moving with the current of the other shoppers. He took a piece (or three) of whatever was being offered. What Gladio and Ignis didn’t know about wouldn’t hurt them. Dark, milk, white. Hazelnuts, peanuts, crisp rice. Cherry, raspberry, nougat. It was all good, sure, but it wasn’t _Prompto_. Noct took another sample and popped it to his mouth. _Not_ sweet. _Spicy_. Spicy, but not enough to clear his sinuses or make him want to chug water.

He turned to face the stall, the press and movement of the other shoppers pushing him in a bit more than he wanted. The clerk at the stand smiled, waiting for his order. Noctis glanced at the boxes offered for sale. The little ones with four pieces of chocolate didn’t seem like enough. The big fancy ones would just be… weird. Anything shaped like a heart would be even weirder.

He pulled out Luna’s box from its bag. “Excuse me, do you have anything about this size?”

The clerk took a look at the box. “What kinds of things does your special someone like to eat?” Noctis thought back to about five months of school lunches, trying to ignore the growing heat of his cheeks. “Stuff with Leiden pepper. Peppery rice. Green curry.”

The cashier presented a box labeled “Our Spicy Sampler”. It was exactly the same size as Luna’s cookie box. “Would you like to add a card?”

“Um, no, thanks.” Noctis swiped his card and waited about twenty seconds for the clerk to expertly wrap the box and put it in a bag. He broke though the current of shoppers and returned to the elevator.

Gladio was waiting for him in the basement food hall, near the tempura and croquettes. “Mission accomplished?”

Noctis wordlessly held up two pink bags.

Gladio raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

* * *

The bell for lunch rang and Noctis ran out the door with his lunch and his school bag. He veered in the direction of Prompto’s homeroom and just avoided crashing into Prompto himself.

“Bathroom?” Prompto asked.

Noctis shook his head. “I just… needed to get out of there.”

“Too many Prince Things?”

“Yeah.”

They made it out to their spot near windows overlooking the courtyard. Their usual bench was free. Prompto flopped down first. "Ancient Lucian is going to end my life."

Noct sat down next to Prompto and gave him a little shove on the shoulder. "Last week you said it was trig that was going to end your life."

Prompto shoved him back. The warmth of the touch lingered. "Changed my mind. Declension tables beat out triangles and circles." Prompto opened his lunch bag and pulled out his food and his water bottle.

Noct took that as his cue to unpack his own lunch and ignore any lingering anything. He looked past the fish, rice, and croquettes to glare at the pile of grilled vegetables Ignis had ruined his lunch with. They seriously had to be more than half of the entire meal.

He set it aside and dug into his school bag. The little box Luna had sent was side by side with the Spicy Sampler. Noct hesitated for a heartbeat, then took out the box from Luna. “Hey, Luna sent these to me. For Valentine’s. She wanted me to share.”

Prompto grinned and presented his own, identical box. “Twins!”

Noct smiled back. “Of course Luna would ask the both of us to share.”

“Luna’s gotta Luna.”

They opened their respective boxes. Noctis’s had dark chocolate flowers while Prompto’s had milk chocolate stars. Noct grabbed a star from Prompto’s box, and Prompto got a flower from Noct’s own. Noct popped the star into his mouth and let the chocolate melt. Delicious, of course. Luna always gave the best chocolate. "Want to marathon tomorrow?"

Prompto nibbled on his chocolate flower. "I get out of work at 2:00, so I could make it to your place by... 4:30, maybe?"

Noct took another chocolate star. "Sounds good."

Prompto finished his chocolate, then took a swallow of water. "Not that I'm complaining, but don't you have to do any prince things tomorrow for Valentine's--"

"Excuse me."

Noct and Prompto looked up. There was a girl standing at a respectable distance away from them, holding a small bag.

Prompto gave her a little wave. "Oh, hey, Calidia. What's up?"

Calidia cleared her throat. She turned to face Noct. "I'm sorry for interrupting, Your Highness--" She bowed, and Noct fought the urge to groan. "--but lunch was the only time I could do this." She held out the bag; it was filled with pieces of chocolate and wrapped with a shiny gold bow.

Noct braced himself. "It's okay, I just--"

Calidia bowed again. "Thank you so much!" She presented the bag of chocolate to Prompto. "This is for you, Prompto. To thank you for helping me out in art class."

Prompto opened his mouth, let out a soft squeak, then closed it again. He accepted the bag, placing it on his lap, and tried once more. "Um... thanks." His face was bright red to the tips of his ears.

Calidia's face, Noct saw, was getting red, too. "I hope you like them. I made them myself."

In the awkward, pregnant silence that followed, Noctis mentally raced through Ignis's lessons in etiquette and diplomacy, trying to remember the best way for a crown prince to politely get the fuck out of earshot before having to hear a girl confess her feelings to his best friend.

Noct only managed to shift about a centimeter away from Prompto before Calidia bowed yet again and then headed off.

Prompto had a shy smile on his face as he looked down at the bag of chocolate. It was a smile that Noctis had never seen before and... well... it made him want to smile, too. And maybe ruffle Prompto's hair or even--"I've never had someone give me chocolate they'd made themselves before." Prompto's voice had softened to match his shy smile.

Prompto turned to fully face Noctis, still holding that soft smile. It was a glance, barely long enough for Noctis to even register it'd happened, before Prompto whipped away again. Prompto looked back down at the bag for a second and looked back up at Noctis again. Something in Prompto had shifted. The color on his face was returning to normal, his smile was now the usual big one. He offered the bag to Noctis. "Hey, you want to try one, Noct?" He shook the bag hard enough for the ribbon to bob up and down.

Noctis pushed the bag back towards Prompto. "No, it's fine. She gave them to you."

Prompto took a breath, shrugged, and set the bag aside. "Okay, then." His voice, Noct thought, had sounded oddly flat.

More silence. Noct busied himself burying grilled vegetables in his rice. He was more than half done when Prompto decided on another topic of conversation.

"You know that flower thing you have to do in King's Knight to get extra gatcha pulls this week? It's such a fucking scam..."

Noct grabbed onto the new topic like a lifeline.

* * *

Noctis took a breath to steady himself. Then another. IN-two-three-four, HOLD-two-three-four, OUT-two-three-four.

The mountain of chocolate boxes on his desk refused to disappear.

Prompto let out a low whistle. "I think you're set for chocolate for the rest of our lives."

Noctis grabbed a box at random and held it out to Prompto. "Want to help me take them on?" The sooner they were out of his life, the better. He wondered how much Umbra would be willing to carry to Tenebrae.

Prompto pushed the box back at Noct. "What? No! Dude, these are, like, people's feelings for you in candy form."

Noct held the box out again. "They're gifts, which means they're _mine_ , and I can do what I want with them."

Prompto frowned, and said nothing.

Noct bit his lip and put the box back in its old spot on the mountain. "Look, forget I said anything about eating all of these." He scratched the back of his head. "I have some for you, though. Chocolate." His face was getting warm. "I saw the box while I was out shopping for Luna and I thought you'd--" He was rambling and that would make things awkward but not saying anything would make things even _more_ awkward. He reached into his school bag. "You like spicy stuff, right? Try it and tell me what you think."

He handed Prompto the box. Their fingers brushed, just for a moment.

Prompto smiled softly down at the box. It was... different, somehow, from the smile he'd gotten because of the chocolate from Calidia. "To me from you, huh?" He looked back up, and again the soft smile had been wiped out by one of Prompto's usual big grins. "Thanks, Noct. See you after class."

The brush of Prompto's fingertips stayed with Noctis until the last bell of the day. The sight, however brief, of that new soft smile would stay for much longer.

* * *

The following afternoon, Prompto arrived at Noctis's door with a heart-shaped box of chocolate and a bunch of red carnations. Noctis did his best impression of a golden catfish.

Prompto grinned. "Don't freak out, it's just me."

Noct gestured at the chocolate and carnations. "I didn't expect... uh..."

Prompto shrugged. "You gave me chocolates yesterday, so I had to give you something back."

Noct stepped aside to let Prompto in. "With flowers?" The heart shape of the box didn't mean anything. It _couldn't_ mean anything. Because giving heart-shaped boxes of chocolate _intentionally_  to your _best friend_ would be weird. Maybe Prompto couldn't find another kind of box because Valentine's Day was  _today_ and besides, Prompto didn't-- 

"Oh..." Prompto's ears turned bright red. "When Ms. Nasica--the lady that runs the convenience store by my house--saw that I was buying a box of chocolate she said she had to give them to me, because she'd feel bad if my 'sweetheart' didn't get 'the whole package'. I tried to tell her it wasn't like that, but she kept pushing and it was already super awkward... So, yeah." He let out a laugh that sounded more like a weak cough. "They're your flowers, I guess."

Noct could feel his face getting warmer as he accepted the flowers and chocolate. "Guess they are."

He went to the kitchen sink. Noctis grabbed a tall glass, filled it with water from the tap, and plopped the carnations in it: foil wrapping, rubber band, and all. The bunch tilted to rest on one side of the glass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to apologize to those of you who have commented, kudo-ed, and bookmarked (!) this work over the past year. Life happened and I couldn't face working on this. I _will_ finish, though. I don't know when, but it'll happen.
> 
> Thank you all again.


End file.
